_Columba carolinensis_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 286, No.
37.—LATHAM, Ind. II, 1790, 613.—WILSON, Am. Orn. V, 1812, 91, pl.
xliii.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 91; V, 1839, 555, pl. xvii.—NUTTALL,
Man. I, 1832, 626. _Turtur carolinensis_, BRISSON, I, 110, pl. viii.
_Ectopistes carolinensis_, RICH. List, 1837.—BON. Birds Amer. V,
1842, 36, pl. cclxxxvi. _Zenaidura carolinensis_, BONAP. Consp. Av.
II, 1854, 84 (type).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 604.—REICHENB. Handb.
Taub. 19, tab. 249, f. 1380–82.—COOP. & SUCKL. 218.—COOP. Orn. Cal.
I, 1870, 512. _Perissura carolinensis_, CAB. Cab. Jour. 1856, 111,
112 (type). _Columba marginata_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 286, No.
40 (best description).—WAGLER, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 91.—IB. Isis,
1831, 519. _Ectopistes marginata_, GRAY, List, Br. Mus. _? Ectopistes
marginellus_, WOODHOUSE, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, June, 1852, 104.—IB. Expl.
Zuñi & Color. 1853, 93; Birds, pl. v (Canadian river, Ark. Immature
bird). _? Zenaidura marginalla_, BONAP. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 85.
SP. CHAR. Tail-feathers fourteen. Above bluish, although this is
overlaid with light brownish-olive, leaving the blue pure only on the
top of the head, the exterior of the wings, and the upper surface of
the tail, which is even slightly tinged with this color. The entire
head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts
generally, light brownish-vinaceous, strongly tinged with purple on the
breast, becoming lighter behind, and passing into brownish-yellow or
creamy-ochraceous on the anal region, tibiæ, and under tail-coverts.
Sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red. Sides of body
and inside of wings clear light blue. Wing-coverts and scapulars spotted
with black, mostly concealed, and a small oblong patch of the same, with
a steel-blue reflection, below the ear. Tail-feathers seen from below
blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the
same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is
brown. Seen from above there is the same gradation from white to light
blue in the tips; the rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar
of black anterior to the light tip, which runs a little forward along
the margin and shaft of the feather. In the sixth feather the color
is uniform bluish, with this bar; the seventh is without a bar. Bill
black, the angle of the mouth carmine. Female smaller, and with less red
beneath. Length of male, 12.85; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.70. Bare orbits pale
blue, with a green tint; iris dark brown; feet lake-red. _Young_ with
the feathers of upper parts and jugulum margined with paler; the tints
more brownish.
[Illustration: _Zenaidura carolinensis._]
HAB. Throughout United States from Atlantic to Pacific. Cuba; Middle
America to Panama. Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 391); Cordova (1856,
359); Guatemala (Ibis, I, 222); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, III; GUNDL. Rep.
I, 1866, 301); Honduras (TAYLOR, Ibis, II, 227); Southeastern Texas
(DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 24, breeds); Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES,
P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 139); Yucatan (IX, 207).
Specimens from the whole of North America, south to Costa Rica and the
West India Islands, are identical in colors and proportions.
Specimens from Cuba, Jamaica, and other West India Islands, resemble
examples from the eastern United States, but are considerably smaller,
the wing measuring less than 5.50 inches. The dark blotches on the wings
appear of unusual size, the rufous tinge on the back is more decided,
and the under parts are more deeply colored. In these respects they
resemble somewhat skins from Cape St. Lucas, collected by Mr. Xantus.
HABITS. The Carolina Dove is found throughout the United States, in
nearly all parts, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the
Atlantic coast to the Pacific. It occurs also in the West Indies, in
Mexico, and in Central America. It is found in the southern part of
Maine as far to the eastward as Calais, but was not collected by Mr.
Verrill at Norway, and is not known to occur in the northern part of
that State. Farther west, it is met with to the Canada line; a few
being known to breed near Hamilton, and others to pass the winter near
Salt Springs, according to Mr. McIlwraith. They occur with more or
less abundance in different parts of Massachusetts, but are generally
quite rare except in one or two localities. In nearly all the rest
of the United States they are widely and generally distributed, and
often abundant. In some parts of the country they are cherished for
their confiding trust in the protection of man; while in others they
are hunted on account of their delicacy as food, and are very shy and
difficult of approach. In Carlisle, Penn., I found them one of the
most common birds, frequenting the gardens and orchards, and breeding
often in close proximity to the houses. In Western Massachusetts, on
the other hand, where they were once quite abundant, they have been so
persistently hunted that they are very shy, and have become quite rare.
In Kansas and in Colorado they were frequently found by Mr. Allen, and
in the latter region also by Messrs. Aiken and Holden. On the Plains,
in the absence of any trees in which to build, they were in the habit
of constructing their nests on the ground, in some instances depositing
their eggs in a mere depression in the sand, with hardly any pretence
for a nest.
This bird was obtained in Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch; at
Ringgold Barracks, Texas, by Mr. J. H. Clark; near San Elizario, by
Dr. Kennerly; and on the Colorado, by Mr. Schott. Mr. Clark found the
vicinity of Ringgold Barracks a great resort for many birds of this
family for the purpose of nesting; the luxuriant development of the
_Opuntia_, and other vegetation equally impassable, affording the means
of defence. Hundreds of at least half a dozen species were to be seen
every evening on the banks of the river after water. Lieutenant Couch
found it in great numbers from the Rio Grande to beyond the Sierra
Madre, generally near the ranches, though often in the forests. It
seemed inclined to court the society of man for protection and food. It
was also very abundant, according to Dr. Kennerly, in the vicinity of
San Elizario, banding in large flocks, and feeding in the wheat and corn
fields. It was also observed as far west as Santa Cruz, in Sonora.
Dr. Newberry met with this Dove in all parts of California and Oregon
visited by him. Dr. Suckley mentions it as very abundant throughout
Washington Territory and Oregon. At Fort Steilacoom it arrives and
departs at about the same time as the _Columba fasciata_. Dr. Cooper
states it to be common about prairies and farms of the interior, and
probably some remain all winter in the Territory, though they rarely
appear at any time near the coast border.
Dr. Kennerly found this species about Bill Williams Fork, in New Mexico,
and also in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, and along the Gulf
coast; but travelling west about two hundred miles from the former
place, they seemed suddenly to disappear.
According to Mr. Salvin, this Dove was very abundant about Dueñas,
inhabiting only the open districts. It congregated in flocks, and was
resident. Mr. G. C. Taylor frequently met with it in Honduras, where
they were generally seen in small flocks of from six to ten.
Dr. Woodhouse mentions that the mournful notes of these birds were to be
heard continually throughout the Indian Territory and the greater part
of Texas and New Mexico, in all of which countries it breeds.
Mr. Dresser found this Dove a familiar resident in every part of Texas
and Mexico that he visited. He saw many of their nests, all slightly
built of sticks placed on the branch of a mesquite tree or bush,
containing two pure-white eggs. In two instances the nests were on the
ground. He met with one nest with fresh eggs as late as September 7.
These birds are migratory in the Northern States, and partially so
in the Middle States, their movements being irregular, and evidently
dependent upon the abundance of their food. In North and South Carolina,
and in other parts of the country south of Pennsylvania, they collect
together in the winter months in considerable numbers. Wilson states
that on the 2d of February he saw a flock of many hundreds of these
birds near Newbern, N. C.; and near the Savannah River, in Georgia, the
woods were swarming with them. They return to the North in March or
early in April, and disperse very generally over the country in pairs,
rarely more than two or three of these being seen together. They are
then occasionally to be seen in roads, dusting themselves or procuring
gravel. Where not molested, they often visit the farm-yards, and even
occasionally feed with the poultry, take water from the drinking-places
of the cattle, and become partially domesticated.
When their breeding-season is over, usually early in August, they again
collect in small flocks, which unite in larger collections when they
move southward in their migrations.
Their flight is rapid, vigorous, and strong, and the flapping of their
wings is accompanied by a peculiar whistling sound. They can fly with
great swiftness, can readily alight on trees, and move with facility
among the branches.
Their love-notes, which commence in the early spring, are celebrated
for their peculiarly sad and touching plaintiveness of sound, though
the birds themselves exhibit in their appearance and manners at this
time anything but an appearance of grief or mourning, being exceedingly
lively and sportive in their endearments. These notes are repeated
almost continually, in a succession of four or five notes sounding like
_ah-coo-roo-coo_ or _ah-cōō-rōō-cōō-rōō_.
This Pigeon feeds on seeds, grain, buckwheat, Indian corn, the berries
of various shrubs and plants, and the smaller acorns of the live-oak and
other oaks. They are also accused of visiting the gardens and consuming
peas. They swallow great quantities of gravel.
In Pennsylvania they are said to nest as early as the first of May. They
probably have more than one brood in a season, as the nests found at
Carlisle about the middle of June were found to contain perfectly fresh
eggs. Their nest is a rudely constructed fabric of small twigs laid
together in an inartistic manner, and lined with a few finer stems and
rootlets, and is placed on the horizontal branch of a tree, in a vine
or evergreen, or even on the ground. The last was the general position
of their nests on the Plains, and occasionally is noticed at the East.
Wilson found nests thus placed in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Dr. Coues mentions this bird as an abundant summer resident in Arizona,
where it arrives the last week in April and remains into October. The
presence of this bird on the dry sandy wastes of that Territory always
proved a sure indication of the presence of water, the nature of its
food, consisting ordinarily of dry hard seeds, rendering an abundant
supply of water necessary to its existence.
Mr. Audubon states that these birds breed in Louisiana in April, and
sometimes as early as March, and have there two broods. They roost at
night on the ground, among the long grasses found growing in abandoned
fields; and occasionally they resort to the dead foliage of trees, and
to various kinds of evergreens. Their flesh is said to be remarkably
fine, tender and juicy, especially when the birds are fat, and by some
is regarded as superior to that of either the Snipe or the Woodcock.
This Dove can easily be induced to breed in aviaries, even though caught
when old, and will have several broods in a season.
In Southern Illinois they have been observed by Mr. Ridgway to breed in
various situations, either on the ground in grain-fields, on the tops of
stumps, or the top of a rail fence, as well as in trees and bushes. They
nest from the beginning of April to the middle of September. They were
also remarkably abundant along the line of the 40th parallel, according
to Mr. Ridgway, even in the most desert tracts.
The eggs of this species measure 1.15 inches in length by .86 in
breadth; they are of an oblong-oval shape, white in color, and nearly
equal at either extremity.